Excelsior College To Integrate Game-Based Learning in 5 Courses
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 09/09/15
Excelsior
College will integrate gaming and
advanced simulation in five of its courses over the next year. It is
one of the
first steps in an initiative to integrate game-based learning across
its entire
curriculum.
Muzzy
Lane, a company that creates game-based
tools, will partner with the college on the project that is one of the
first
initiatives of the college's new Center for Game and Simulation-Based Learning.
"Games
have shown the potential to transform
learners from passive, disinterested knowledge consumers into
intrinsically
motivated knowledge producers," said David Seelow, director of the
Center for
Game and Simulation-Based Learning.
The
new game-based initiative will be used in a
required course in the master of public administration program and
electives in
business and technology, health sciences and liberal arts.
As
an example of what can be done when
integrating gaming into the courses, students taking a course in World
War I
history will be able to work through major decision points themselves
and take
part in strategy sessions that helped define the war.
"This
could be the model for most e-learning
capstone experiences," said Jennifer McVay-Dyche, assistant vice
president for
online education at Excelsior. "What better way to make sure learners
have
acquired the essential skills and knowledge from a degree program than
to place
them in real-world scenarios within a 'safe' environment?"
Excelsior
is a distance learning institution that
primarily targets older students, many of which are in the military.
The
average age of its 38,000 students is 37 and more than 14,000 are on
active
military duty or veterans.
Earlier
this year, Muzzy Lane was awarded a Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation research grant to explore its
game-based
learning applications for nontraditional students.
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.